Excel has been the default software for metallurgists for decades. It’s not hard to see why: It’s straightforward, easy to customise, and most people who work in a technical role in a mineral processing plant will have a good understanding of how to use it.
That familiarity has led metallurgical teams to stick with a known quantity, even if it’s not really built to do the job it’s being used for. These days, there are software options designed specifically for process plants that reduce errors, decrease time spent on data entry, and give you a quicker heads-up of production deviations.
Hans Liang, Minerals Processing SME at Mipac, says plenty of plants would benefit from ditching Excel, but find it hard to move on.
“Often you’ll have a champion on site who will push for a new software product, but the moment they leave, people will just revert back to Excel, because that’s what they’ve always used,” Hans says.
Is it time to move on from Excel? Let’s look at five situations where your processing plant should stop using Excel:
- Production reporting
- Metal accounting
- Logsheets
- Quality control
- Downtime reporting
1. Production Reporting
A lot of plants use Excel for production tracking by pulling data from systems like AVEVA PI. This approach often needs you to customise the sheets, which can burn through precious time. It also means you might not always be up to speed with everything that’s going on in the plant.
“When you’re dealing with a lot of data, you want real-time insights,” Hans says. “That’s something Excel just isn’t designed to handle effectively.”
Software platforms that are specially designed for production reporting such as AVEVA PI Vision (if it’s a custom-built version) or the MPA software suite make it much easier to track metrics in real-time. They provide standard reporting templates, customisable displays and seamless integration with data sources. The result is improved visualisation, data that is easier to trace and contextualise, and automated updates so that you don’t have to keep hitting ‘calculate’ manually.
2. Metal Accounting
“Excel can work for small, straightforward calculations, but for something as complex as metal accounting, you need a system that minimises the risk of human error and ensures compliance,” Hans says.
Dedicated metal accounting software such as Datamine’s Production Accounting (PA), Caspeo’s INVENTEO, Metal Management Solutions (MMS) WIRE provide the audit trails and data integrity plants need, with a centralised system that integrates information from different databases and different data sources. By providing a more structured and traceable system, this kind of dedicated software reduces the sort of errors you tend to get with manual entry and ensures you comply with industry standards and regulations.
3. Logsheets
While plant operators often still use Excel for daily logsheets, it can be all too easy to miss critical information or lose track.
“When things need to be recorded consistently and accessed quickly, relying on Excel can lead to a lot of data gaps,” Hans says.
One way operators are getting around Excel is even more old school — using a physical notebook to handwrite log entries. Hans says the dangers of this traditional approach are pretty obvious.
“The data gets lost. Even if it doesn’t, you have to go digging through. It’s like going through a library and sifting through the records to try and find out what happened on a particular date.”
Specialised software options are now available and widely used. For example, the MPA software suite, with its dedicated Logsheets application can provide a more structured approach to capture data. Logsheet information is more visible and accessible, rather than being buried in handwritten notes, while smart backend capabilities automate data categorisation, which simplifies troubleshooting and reporting.
4. Quality Control
A lack of automation — and real-time data — is also where Excel will let you down when it comes to quality control. If you have to remind yourself to spam that F9 key, it’s all too easy not to notice when issues arise.
“Unless you’ve been refreshing constantly, you may have missed that production started drifting off maybe two hours ago,” Hans says.
“Quality control is better with automated alerts, but in Excel, you might not catch deviations until it’s too late.”
Being able to track deviations in real-time with automated alerts allows operators and managers to oversee multiple data sources and respond quickly to any issues. Automated alerts not only let you know when something goes wrong but can follow a structured series of escalations to deal with the problem.
Digital TARP is designed specifically for this. Part of the MPA software suite, it tells you when a deviation occurs and activates the appropriate TARP. You can configure the app with standard response actions for common problems and the software will recommend the correct action response to fix them.
5. Downtime Reporting
Using Excel for downtime reporting can demand a constant and labour-intensive string of custom calculations, each of which invites human errors.
“If you don’t have a dedicated delay accounting software, you need to set up your own calculations to determine when a conveyor went down,” Hans says.
Delay accounting software such as AVEVA Production Management or RtDuet automatically captures any downtime events and provides standardised reports that allow operators to easily identify where frequent failures occur. Built-in diagnostic capabilities can then inform decisions around resource or capital funding allocation and maintenance. Even better, insights from the software can help shape predictive maintenance by helping managers understand and address the root causes of equipment failures.
Is it time for your plant to let go of Excel?
Excel is still a great tool and offers a straightforward fix for a range of plant operations. But software has come a long way in the past few years, with platforms built specifically for mineral processing plants now making it easy to keep track of essential processes and data.
Adopting these more sophisticated tools improves real-time data handling, automates manual processes, and ensures accuracy for complex tasks like production and downtime reporting, metal accounting and quality control. To put it simply — these software platforms not only mean your job will get easier, but you’ll also be able to optimise your plant and have consistent control over maintenance and throughput.
